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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

It is my day for the CraftingCon tour!! I was super excited when I got picked to have a chance at being part of this fun tour. The tour was set up by Amy of Friends Stitched Together and Maegen of Mae & K. There were several options to choose from, I went with Mario. I have always been a fan of the Mario games but was never good at any of them. I remember playing on my best friends little sisters Nintendo Gameboy and could never make it past level 3.

I wanted to do a modern Princess Peach. My oldest loves princesses and pink...how could I go wrong. She loved it! My youngest on the other hand was not as thrilled (her facial expression should sum up how she felt about outfit and photos). We have been working on redoing our backyard and had some bricks laying around that hadn't been put in their places yet so I built a tiny wall and my husband made the fun green tubes.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

I love the Alder Skirt (girls and women's) by Imagine Gnats!! I was surprised when I got the email saying I was chosen to test the girls version...and then even more surprised when I was sent the women's version too! Blew my mind.

It has a fun mod look to it. The girls version comes in size 4-14 and the women's comes in sizes 2-22. I kind of wish the girls came in a little bit of a smaller size so my 2 year old could have one too.
The skirt looks like it will be complicated to make but it isn't! I struggled a little with the pockets but after reading the instructions a few times a light bulb went off in my head and it went smoothly from there. There also is an elastic waist in the back so no zippers or button holes.

My daughter picked out her fabric from my stash, waist and pocket lining is Strawberries Cream from Everyday Party by Emily Isabella for Birch Fabric and the skirt is Ric Rac Rabbits by Andover Fabrics (found on the clearance table at G Street Fabrics). I went to one of the local fabric stores (Suzzie's Quilt Shop)and found some that was more adult but coordinated. Skirt portion is Michael Miller Tea Room Collection in Rosy Dots. For the life of me I can't remember what the waist and pocket lining fabric is. And of course I have nothing left of it to check, if anyone knows please let me know!

LOVE the pockets and so does she

She was in no mood for photos and I was really sick that day. So excuse the blah photos. Once she was in a better mood and I was capable of standing my husband took some photos of us together.

Unfortunately most of them were blurry........

He also kept telling her there was candy in my pockets. Gotta love him!!

You can pick up both the girls Alder pattern and the women's Alder pattern from Imagine Gnats website. While you are there do yourself a favor and check out her fabric selection. There are some yummy double gauze, chambrays and knits.

Monday, May 12, 2014

I am excited to share with you my part of the Hope Floats Breezy Blog Tour. Lynn of Bebelambs designed the lovely Hope Floats tunic and is nice enough to let me be apart of the tour. This is my first one ever! With summer right around the corner this is a great top for it.

Lynn said she wanted light, airy and beach theme, which the first two were easy to accomplish, the beach part....not so much. I live outside of Washington DC and there aren't a whole lot of beaches close by. So lets just close our eyes and pretend I took my girls to the beach for a photo shoot. But don't close them to long or you won't be able to continue reading or you may fall asleep.***Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what your children might do if while shutting your eyes you fell asleep.

Kind of beach looking....it is a fishing dock in the neighborhood

This pattern looks complex but it really isn't. The directions are very easy to follow and goes together smoothly. It has two skirt options to choose from a simple and full version. It is for sizes NB to 10 so you can get a lot of use out of the pattern.

Close up of back. Kind of looks like the sound side of a beach

The back is made using elastic and a button hole. If we are being honest (and I am) I had never done button holes before I made the Labri Maxi from Bebelambs. It was not as scary as I made it be in my head.

She loves this outfit. The bermuda style shorts are something I just came up with using a pair of pants and shortening them to the knees.

Showing off her twirling skills.

It felt like we were at the beach since it muggy and in the 80's today and is thinking about raining. What can't be seen in most of the pictures is her little sister following her every move. And when I wanted to take photos of the front she insisted on her being in them with her.

AHH sister love

We also had another little tag along that followed us around the dock hoping we had some food. He kept distracting the girls while I was trying to take photos. Every time he would honk they would run away.

Do yourself a favor and check out Bebelambs and all her wonderful creations. You can pick up the Hope Floats pattern and many more in her Etsy shop.

Monday, May 5, 2014

I had the privilege of testing not just the girls California Dress & Peplum but the women's version too by Everything Your Mama Made & More (also know as EYMM). They are both fantastic!! Super comfy and come with several options. First I will start with the girls.

The dress is reversible, so that she can either wear it with a scoop in front or gathered like a halter. You also can do a contrasting color fabric for the neck and arm bands.There is a peplum length, knee length and maxi length for girls. For sizes newborn to 18, so you can get a lot of use out this pattern. She LOVES this dress. If it is clean she has it on.

This is a size 3 knee length. In what she considers Minnie Mouse fabric, just some red and white polka dots I picked out on Girl Charlee (one of my favorite places to get knit fabrics).

Little miss ran the whole time I was trying to take photos.

Halter option turned to the front...her favorite way.

It is easily wearable to play in. She rides her bike, goes to the playground, the park....you name it this dress does not slow her down and get in the way of her energy.

Still running.

And then on the bike ride after all the running.

She refuses to peddle so she just scoots it along but she is speedy.

It is a quick sew and fits great. I foresee many more of these for the summer.

Seeing how comfy it looked on her I jumped on the chance to test the women's version and oh man is it comfy! It is also reversible with the scoop and halter versions. The women's also has a peplum length, knee and below knee length, maxi length, a hi-low length and if you really into the maxi dresses a floor sweeping option. I am only 5'2 but love maxi dresses so that is the option I went with.

I didn't have enough of the blue to make a maxi so I cut out the below knee version and added a black band to the bottom. I really like how it turned out. I also raised the waist up a smidge because of how short my torso is. It is so short when I took a CPR class the Red Cross lady told me if I ever need the heimlich it might break a rib......now back to the dress.

Back view

This dress is really comfy! I have plans on making some more for myself.

What kept happening every other photo.

OOPS! Almost forgot. The women's dress also has a maternity option and a nursing option. Seriously the dress is a must have. You can do so much with it. So do yourself a favor and pick yourself up a copy from EYMM.